Originally Posted by
Merle Haggard
One can argue the technicalities of the word scab all day. The landscape has changed completely in RLA regulated industries to one that has essentially eliminated the strike as a tool and thus has eliminated the traditional scab in those industries.
Maybe it's time to redefine it as one who crosses a picket line to perform struck work or in RLA regulated industries, performs extra or voluntary work after a contract amendable date (or something to that effect).
It's time to get with the times. Some of our cards have been taken. There's no point in arguing which ones they were.
My shop managed to really light a fire under the company in 2022 just by voting close to 99% in favor of a strike... the company did not expect that, it made the local media, and the union leveraged it publicly. Had a contract in a few months, went from solid second tier to ballpark big four (same rates, some work still to do on rules).
So even movement in the direction of a strike can have an impact on the company via customer perception. Yes I know FDX customers are different.
Problem with redefining "scab" is that now you're cherry-picking the CBA... basically saying that some CBA provisions are not OK to utilize.
Also it would totally illegal for the union to try to tell people to change the status quo.